I'd never seen "Gene Simmons' Family Jewels" before sitting down to watch this second season, and I have to say that my expectations of the A & E show were low. I expected another "Osbournes" and really, can you blame me? What I got was a very pleasant surprise, and such an improvement upon MTV's reality series.

The series stars the Simmons family: former rocker Gene, his wife (er, I mean, girlfriend, as Gene doesn't believe in marriage) Shannon Tweed and kids Nick and Sophie. Gene is darkly funny (there's a deadpan humor that's frequently hysterical), picky, kind of irritable, more than a little arrogant and very smart. The reason that Gene Simmons remains an incredibly successful individual is readily apparent here. This is not a rock star who relies on others to do his business (although he does have people he works with), this is a rock star who is always thinking business and always coming up with his own ideas, as crazy as some of them may be. Plus, he's done a remarkable job keeping Kiss relevant and in the public eye, and has unleashed a wave of Kiss-related products without the audience calling it overdone.

This is also a man who, as he notes, absolutely hates losing any money - even a penny - which makes one episode where Shannon bets $100,000 of his money at the Kentucky Derby without him knowing particularly amusing. In another episode, he rents an RV with an ad for a sexual enhancement supplement because the $25,000 they're going to pay him to drive it around will pay for their vacation and then some. It's a very staged scene, but it's still damn funny as they drive down the highway. When Gene doesn't have a hotel room reserved in his name, he asks the clerk to, "look under One-Thousand Dollars." Son Nick: "I threw a penny out the window once and he yelled at me." Sophie: "How do you stop a baby from crying?" Gene: "Give it money."

As arrogant (in a funny, deadpan way) as Gene can be, his family delights in poking fun at him, especially son Nick. Nick to his mother: "So, is dad fun?" Shannon: "No...well...no." Nick: "Well, then I'm glad they didn't give him his own show." In the first episode, Gene and Shannon are pondering plastic surgery. Nick: "What if dad comes back looking like Tom Jones?" Sophie: "Mom loves Tom Jones."

The first group of episodes focuses on the plastic surgery, and afterwards, Gene walks around wrapped in bandages while still trying to conduct business meetings looking like a Mummy. Other highlights include a camping episode, a couple of episodes where Gene ponders buying an island and turning it into Genetopia, as well as the previously mentioned Kentucky Derby bet episodes (Gene tries selling his $100,000 bet ticket that Shannon made for $90,000 to any celeb that passes by) and a London trip with a royal ending.

Overall, "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" was a really pleasant surprise. Simmons is a very amusing character and despite the demonic image, the show shows that he's not such a bad guy, and he and Shannon seem to be good parents.